Characterized by summary and foreshortening, it depicts a socially ostracized widow who is chaperoned by her spunky daughter back into social acceptance, while Victorian hypocrisy is limned in the background. "The Jolly Corner" (
English Review, December 1908; collected in volume 17 of the New York Edition) is a typical "anecdote." The American hero of the story so wonders what he would have been like if he had not expatriated himself to Europe that he actually sees his New York alter ego. Despite clear differences between the two stories, the pictorial tale "The Chaperon" is partly anecdotal, while the fictive anecdote "The Jolly Corner" includes intense pictorial moments. As James once wrote, "I rejoice in the anecdote, but I revel in the picture; though having doubtless at times to note that a given attempt may place itself near the dividing-line."
James also applied the French term nouvelle to some of his short fiction.
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